Keys · house and building
House keys cut at your door.
The machine is bolted into the van, so a set of spare keys does not mean a trip across town and a line behind somebody buying paint.
What we cut, and what we check
House and apartment keys, padlock keys, cabinet and desk keys, gate keys, shed keys, mailbox keys and most building common-entry keys.
The part a hardware store skips
A key copied from a copy from a copy drifts. Each generation loses a little at the peaks, and eventually you get a key that opens the door if you lift the handle and jiggle, which everyone treats as the lock wearing out. Usually it is the key.
We measure your key against the lock's original specification rather than tracing whatever shape you hand us. If your original has drifted we will tell you, and cutting a fresh reference key costs the same as copying a bad one.
Keys that will not copy, and why
Some keys carry a manufacturer's restriction. The blank is patented and sold only to authorized dealers, which is the point of it: a tenant or a contractor cannot wander off and have twenty cut. If yours says do not duplicate, that is usually a request rather than a restriction, but if the blank itself is restricted then nobody can copy it legitimately, us included. We will tell you which of the two you have.
Building common keys
If it opens a shared lobby, gate or laundry, it is the building's key and not yours to duplicate without the owner or manager saying so. We ask. It is the same rule that protects your own front door from the neighbor three floors up.
Words you will hear
Mailbox keys, which have their own rules
Mailbox locks in apartment buildings are governed by the Postal Service, not by the landlord's preference. The Postal Operations Manual states plainly at section 632.625 that "Masterkeying is not permitted" for apartment house receptacles, and that each individual receptacle lock is to be clearly numbered on the back so lost keys can be replaced by number.
Section 632.627(a) puts the upkeep on the building: "Owners or managers of buildings must keep receptacles in good repair." And for privately owned cluster boxes, section 632.22 states that "The builder or property owner is responsible for providing lock and key service" and that "the Postal Service keeps no duplicate keys".
So if you have lost your mailbox key, the Post Office cannot help and is not supposed to. Your manager can, or we can.
USPS Postal Operations Manual, sections 632.22, 632.625 and 632.627. Quoted fragments are exact.
Questions
How many should I have cut?
Enough that losing one is an inconvenience rather than an event. Two spares in different places beats five in the same drawer.
My new copy sticks. Is the lock worn out?
Often it is the key, not the lock, especially if the original has been copied several times. Let us check both before anyone buys hardware.
Can you copy my building's front door key?
With the owner or manager's authorization, yes. Without it, no. That rule is what keeps other people from copying yours.
Can you make one key work for every door in my house?
Yes, if the locks share a keyway. It is a rekey rather than a cut, and it takes minutes per lock. Ask when you call.
Need someone now?
A person answers, at any hour, in English or Spanish. If it is not urgent, we will hold a day and a time for you instead.
Or leave your details and we will call you.